Suspect in Ulster theft was involved in prostitute's death in Kingston 9 years ago, police say

TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. - A Greene County man accused of posing as a utility worker and stealing credit cards in the town of Ulster is the same man who was convicted in connection with the death of a prostitute nine years ago, police said Wednesday.

Lt. Anthony Cruise, who heads the town of Ulster Police Department, said Douglas Cooper Jr., 26, of 30 Foster Road, Cairo, is the same man convicted of leaving the scene of an accident, a felony, in 2004.

Cooper was driving his pickup truck on Feb. 23, 2003, with a male cousin as a passenger, when the vehicle struck and fatally injured 30-year-old prostitute Tammy Wilson-Saitch in a parking lot on Cedar Street in Kingston. Cooper lived in Kingston at the time.

On Sept. 18, Cooper was arrested on a felony grand larceny charge for getting inside a woman's home by posing as a utility worker and making off with her credit cards, town police said.

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Police said they had received a complaint from an elderly resident in August that a man posing as a utility worker entered her residence, claiming he was looking for a gas leak.

Police said the man had asked for the location of the boiler and was told it was in the basement.

When the woman became wary of the suspect and asked to see his credentials, he said he would have to retrieve them from his truck. The suspect left, but did not return, police said.

Later, the woman noticed her purse was missing.

Police said Cooper used credit cards taken from the victim's purse to make purchases at local businesses.

Police said a second suspect may have been involved in the theft and are asking anyone with information to call the Ulster Police Department at (845) 382-1111.

Cooper was acquitted in July 2004 of criminally negligent homicide, but convicted of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident. He was sentenced in October 2004 by Ulster County Judge J. Michael Bruhn to six months in jail and five years probation.

Charges of criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident against Cooper's cousin were dismissed in December 2004.

Police said the two picked up Wilson-Saitch on Broadway in Midtown Kingston, and went to a parking lot at 33 Cedar St., where they began negotiating with her for oral sex.

When Wilson-Saitch realized the two had just $5 between them, she got out of Cooper's pickup but then chased the vehicle when she realized she had left her purse inside, authorities said. Wilson-Saitch became entangled with the truck and was run over by one of the rear tires.

The two fled to Cooper's home before reporting the incident to city police, authorities said. Wilson-Saitch died a short time later at Kingston Hospital.